With one last tap of his hammer, Jay put the final details on the Sugar Rush finish line. He clapped his hands in satisfaction and stood, calling, "All fixed!"
"One second!" Cole yelled back. He carefully helped Zane climb into their own, still-dented kart. Of the boy, Cole asked quietly, "You ready for this?"
Zane swallowed hard, but gripped his kart's steering wheel firmly. "As ready as I'll ever be."
Cole gave Zane a gentle push. The boy and his kart rolled across the finish line.
Instantly, sparkles flickered everywhere, around Zane, around Zane's kart, around Cole and Jay and Nya and Kai, around the citizens of Sugar Rush watching intently from the rainbow bridge, around the bridge itself, around the track, around the other racers' karts, around everyone and everything, but mainly around Zane.
In the the castle code room, threads flickered like the sparkles outside. Zane's lonely box shivered and shook and sprouted dozens of new threads, spreading throughout the giant web and making their ways towards the other boxes.
The landscape outside reset back to all its beauty. The citizens of Sugar Rush flooded through it back into the game in amazement, making a beeline for the finish line. They made it just in time to see Zane rise up out of the kart into the air and spin around.
"What is with all these magic sparkles?" Zane asked in amazement. "Cole? A little help?"
A handsome prince's outfit formed on his body over his ratty self-made clothes. A crown appeared on his head, a scepter in his hand.
The memory box in the code room unlocked and strings of memory poured out of it, meeting the strings from Zane's box and connecting them to the rest of the boxes in the room.
Zane floated slowly back to the ground, eyes wide and jaw dropped as memories poured into his head. The faces of the citizens brightened as they remembered as well.
"Now I remember!" Sour Samukai shouted from the back of the crowd. He pushed his way through to the front, a candy tree limb still stuck to his back, and he knelt in front of Zane. "Now I remember. All hail the Rightful Ruler of Sugar Rush: Prince Zane."
The racer kids looked at each other in panic, the horrible way they treated Zane resurfacing pointedly in their minds.
Taffyta stepped up and said, as coolly as she could, "Hey, uh, Zane. You know all that stuff we said earlier, that was all a joke, you know that, right?"
"A joke?" Zane repeated. A thoughtful look appeared on his face. "All right. Then, as your merciful prince, I hereby decree that everyone who was ever mean to me shall be... Executed."
"What?!" The racer kids shrieked in unison. Crying and wailing, they begged, "No, please, don't!"
Cole grinned; he caught what was going on.
"Oh my land!" Jay yelped shrilly, concerned and confused at the sudden change he perceived in Zane.
Kai and Nya shared a shocked look, Nya stating casually, "Well, this place just got interesting."
Zane giggled. "Oh, that was a joke of my own. All is forgiven. You can stop crying, Taffyta."
"I'm trying," Taffyta wept, overcome by emotion, "it won't stop."
"Wow, so this the real you. A prince, huh?" Cole spoke up.
"Cole, are you insane? This is not me," Zane protested. He concentrated and glitched right out of the fancy trimmings and crown and back into his regular clothes. "This is me."
"Really?" Cole asked.
Zane nodded eagerly. "The code may say call me royalty, but I know who I really am. I'm a racer, Cole, with the greatest power-up ever! I was here, I was there, I was glitching through the walls. I could never give that up."
Nuckal the donut cop ? raised his hand and said, "Pardon me for asking, but without a prince, who's gonna lead us?"
"Yeah, who?" His partner Kruncha echoed.
Zane frowned, uncertain.
"Maybe it could still be you," Taffyta ventured, still crying a little.
Everyone looked at her with confusion, Zane the most confused of them all.
Taffyta stood a little straighter, wiping a hand through her smeared mascara and trying to appear more dignified at the attention. "Just saying. I'm thinking of something along the lines of a constitutional democracy. Like, President Zane Von Julien. Has a nice ring to it, don't you think?"
Zane shrugged. "If you all would like it, I would be okay with that."
The citizens cheered, glad to have everything back in order.
"The arcade's about to open," Kai warned urgently. He glanced at his sister. "We'd better move out, Nya."
"Come on, Jay, Cole," Nya said, moving toward the samurai shuttle parked by the finish line. Jay trailed after her.
Taking a step closer to the shuttle, Cole hesitated. He turned back to Zane, the boy looking like he was about to cry. Cole knelt and opened his arms for a hug.
Zane ran at him and hugged him tightly. His voice slightly muffled by his face being pressed into Cole's chest, Zane said quietly, "You know, you could just stay here and live in the castle. You could have your own wing where no one would ever complain about you crushing things, or treat you badly ever again. You could be happy."
Cole pulled back a little and looked down at the boy fondly, grinning. "Kid, I'm already happy. I've got the coolest new friends in the world. Kai, Nya, Jay, you..."
Zane smiled a little.
Encouraged by the smile, Cole kept going. "And besides, I've got a job to do, too. It may not be as fancy as being president, but it's mine. You get that?"
"I understand," Zane said solemnly, but smiled, so Cole knew he was okay.
"Cole?" Jay called back from his spot inside the shuttle. "Are you coming, brother?"
"Just a minute, Jay," Cole called back. He set Zane down and held out his hand to shake.
Now knowing what that meant, Zane held his own hand out.
They shook hands and smiled at each other for a moment before backing apart.
"See ya later, President Glitch," Cole called, starting to head back to the shuttle.
"Farewell, Baron Bad Guy," Zane said happily, waving goodbye.
Cole grinned and did a little bow, proud of Zane's and his own confidence in who they were. "And goodbye, Sir Racer."
Zane grinned back, waving even harder. "Farewell, Major Character of His Game!"
"Hasta la vista-" Cole began.
"Cole!" Jay called again.
Cole laughed and turned around to wave at Jay, then turned back to Zane. "Alright, kid. To be continued."
"To be continued!" Zane repeated cheerfully.
Cole hopped in the shuttle and twisted in his seat. He waved goodbye to Zane until the door closed and they lifted off, heading home.